Incremental method for backup of email messages

ABSTRACT

A system and method for mail server backup. In one embodiment, the method may comprise storing one or more messages on a mail server, where each message is associated with an index time. The method may then perform a full backup by storing each message and a backup time associated with the full backup on a backup medium, and perform a partial backup by storing selected messages on the backup medium dependent upon a difference between the index time associated with each message and the backup time. In one embodiment the partial backup may be performed by backing up each message that includes an index time that is dated after the backup time. In a further embodiment, each message on the mail server is contained in a mail folder object, and storing the backup time may comprise modifying a data member of the mail folder object.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of computer processing and, moreparticularly, to the performance of email server backup operations.

2. Description of the Related Art

As computer processing speeds, memory storage, and data bandwidthincrease, so does the amount and complexity of data that business andindustry manage on a daily basis. For example, modern email messages maybe large markup language files which contain image files, audio or videoclips, spreadsheets or other large data files as attachments. Inaddition, the number of users receiving email and the number of messagesreceived daily by each user has skyrocketed.

Email messages may be managed for an office or business by a dedicatedserver which manages and stores both intra-office and external email.The mail server may provide each user of the email system with one ormore folders for storing email messages. As described above, each emailmessage may contain one or more attached files, which may also be storedwithin the mail folder. Furthermore, because email messages may be sent,or copied, to multiple users at once, a mail server may contain multipleduplicate messages and associated duplicate attachments scattered acrossmultiple folders.

Because email messages may frequently contain information crucial to abusiness or industry, the contents of mail servers may frequently becopied, or backed up, to a backup storage to prevent loss or corruptionof data. However, the large amount of data on many email servers maymake this task difficult, since backup operations may be constrained bytime and bandwidth limitations. For example, a backup operation may beexpected to complete within two hours each night. However, due to thelarge amount of data to be transferred and the speed at which the datacan be transferred, it is possible that not all of the data within thedocument database can be backed up during the allotted time.

Furthermore, the internal organization of the email server and theinterface between the email server and the data backup system may alsoconstrain the backup operation. For example, an email server typicallygroups messages together by folder or owner. Many data backup systemsare configured such that the contents of the entire email server arebacked up during each backup session.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of a system and method for mail server backup aredisclosed. In one embodiment, the method may comprise storing one ormore messages on a mail server, where each message is associated with anindex time. The method may then perform a full backup by storing eachmessage and a backup time associated with the full backup on a backupmedium, and perform a partial backup by storing selected messages on thebackup medium dependent upon a difference between the index timeassociated with each message and the backup time. In one embodiment thepartial backup may be performed by backing up each message that includesan index time that is dated after the backup time. In a furtherembodiment, each message on the mail server is contained in a mailfolder object, and storing the backup time may comprise modifying a datamember of the mail folder object.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a computer system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating aspects associated with oneembodiment of a mail server, backup application, and backup medium.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a mail folder.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for fullbackup of a mail server.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method fordifferential backup of a mail server.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method forincremental backup of a mail server.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating aspects of another embodiment ofa mail server, backup application, and backup medium.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of a mail folderand attachment index.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for singleinstance backup of email message attachments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method forrestoration of a mail server.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example inthe drawings and are herein described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that drawings and detailed description thereto arenot intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed,but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications,equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of one embodiment of a computersystem 100 is shown. Computer system 100 includes a processor 104coupled to a main memory 102. Processor 104 and main memory 102 are inturn connected to an I/O subsystem 110, which comprises an I/O interface112, a hard disk drive 114, a network interface 116, and a removablestorage 118. It is noted that computer system 100 may be representativeof a laptop, desktop, server, workstation, terminal, personal digitalassistant (PDA) or any other type of computer system.

Processor 104 is representative of any of various types of processorssuch as an x86 processor, a PowerPC processor or a SPARC processor.Similarly, main memory 102 is representative of any of various types ofmemory, including DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.

I/O interface 112 is operational to transfer data between processor 104and/or main memory 102 and one or more internal or external componentssuch as hard disk drive 114, network interface 116 and removable storage118, as desired. For example, I/O interface 112 may embody a PCI bridgeoperable to transfer data from processor 104 and/or main memory 102 toone or more PCI devices. I/O interface 112 may additionally oralternatively provide an interface to devices of other types, such asSCSI devices and/or Fibre channel devices.

Hard disk drive 114 may be a non-volatile memory such as a magneticmedia. Network interface 116 may be any type of network adapter, such asEthernet, fiber optic, or coaxial adapters. Removable storage 118 isrepresentative of a disk drive, optical media drive, tape drive, orother type of storage media, as desired.

In addition to the various depicted hardware components, computer system100 may additionally include various software components. For example,FIG. 1 illustrates an operating system 150 stored in main memory 102.Operating system 150 is representative of any of a variety of specificoperating systems, such as, for example, Microsoft Windows, Linux, orSun Solaris. As such, operating system 150 may be operable to providevarious services to the end user and provide a software frameworkoperable to support the execution of various programs such as mailserver 160 and backup application 170. It is noted that the depictedsoftware components of FIG. 1 may be paged in and out of main memory 102in a conventional manner from a storage medium such as hard drive 114.

Generally speaking, mail server 160 is operable to manage and maintain aplurality of email messages for a plurality of system users. Forexample, mail server 160 may be operable to send and receive email toand from one or more external sources via the Internet, and to send andreceive email between users via an intranet. As will be described below,mail server 160 may be operable to store email messages in one or morefolders, each of which may be owned or managed by one or more users.These email messages may be stored in, and copied between, hard drive114 and main memory 102, in accordance with the execution of mail server160. In one particular implementation, mail server 160 is embodied by aMicrosoft Exchange Server.

Backup application 170 is operable to create a backup copy of emailmessages from mail server 160 on a backup medium such as removablestorage 118 (or any other type of backup storage). Alternatively,selected email messages may be transferred from mail server 160 to aremote backup storage through network interface 116. In variousembodiments, backup application 170 may also restore email messages orother data acquired from previous backup operations to mail server 160.

As will be described in further detail below, in one embodiment, backupapplication 170 may be operable to perform a partial backup of onlythose messages that were added or modified since a previous backup. Forthis purpose, backup application 170 may utilize a backup time indicatorassociated with one or more mail folders in mail server 160. In anotherembodiment, backup application 170 may be operable to perform a methodfor backing up only a single instance of an attachment associated withemail messages sent to multiple users at the same time.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating aspects associated with oneembodiment of mail server 160 and backup application 170. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 1–2, in one embodiment mail server 160 maycomprise one or more mail folders 200A–200C. Each folder may contain oneor more email messages (210A–210K), and each email message 210A–210K maybe associated with one or more email attachments (212A–212E). In oneembodiment each mail folder 200A–200C may be associated with a specificuser of mail server 160, while in another embodiment one or more folders200A–200C may be owned by or otherwise associated with a single user. Itis noted that various elements as described above that are referencedwith a particular reference number followed by a letter may becollectively referred to by reference number alone. For example, anemail message representative of any of email messages 210A–210K may bereferred to simply as email message 210.

It is further noted that in other embodiments mail server 160 may notuse mail folders as organizational units, and instead organize emailmessages 210 and attachments 212 in a database or other type of datastructure. In addition, it is noted that the numbers of folders 200,email messages 210 and attachments 212 as illustrated is purelyexemplary.

As described above, backup application 170 may be operable to copy oneor more messages 210 and attachments 212 to backup medium 220. Invarious embodiments, backup medium 220 may be a tape drive or other kindof removable storage 118, an external hard drive or other storage deviceconnected to computer system 100 via network adapter 116, a secondaryhard drive connected to I/O Interface 112, or any other kind of storagemedium used to store backup data.

As will be described in further detail below, in one embodiment, backupapplication 170 may execute a full backup operation of mail server 160,wherein all data and metadata associated with mail server 160 is backedup to backup medium 220. In one embodiment backup application 170 mayexecute a full backup by transferring all files comprising mail server160 to backup medium 220 through the file system of operating system150. Alternatively, in another embodiment backup application 170 mayutilize a specialized backup interface of mail server 160 to backup onlythe messages 210, attachments 212, and metadata associated with mailserver 160. FIG. 2 depicts a full backup 230 including mail folders200A–200C stored in backup medium 220 as a result of such a full backupoperation.

Backup application 170 may additionally perform a partial backupoperation. In one embodiment, a partial backup operation may act as asupplement to a previous full backup operation, wherein the partialbackup operation backs up all email messages which are new or have beenmodified since a previous backup operation. As illustrated in FIG. 2,partial backup 240 may comprise a subset of the messages and attachmentsstored in mail folders 200A–200C. This subset of messages andattachments may correspond to those messages which are new or have beenmodified since the last backup. It is noted that by transferring onlynew or modified files or data to backup medium 220, a partial backup maybe performed more rapidly than a full backup, thereby advantageouslyallowing for more efficient use of backup storage and bandwidth.

A plurality of partial backups may be performed subsequent to a fullbackup to provide a more efficient backup mechanism over an extendedperiod of time. For example, mail server 160 may undergo a full backupevery week during a weekend, when the mail server is idle for arelatively long period of time. Following the weekend, mail server 160may undergo a partial backup at the end of every weekday, therebybacking up any new email messages received each day without the time andbandwidth demands of a full backup. In the event of a system failure,backup application 170 may then restore the data of mail server 160 byrestoring full backup followed by one or more partial backups until allbacked-up data is restored.

As will be described in further detail below, backup application 170 maydetermine when a backup has last occurred by utilizing a backup timeproperty associated with the one or more mail folders 200 managed bymail server 160. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating one embodimentof mail folder 200A including a backup time property and email messages210A–210D. In one embodiment, mail folder 200A may be a defined dataobject operable to interact with other data objects associated with mailserver 170. For example, mail folder 200A may comprise a set of methodsor member functions which form an interface to the data contained withinmail folder 200A. Mail folder 200A may further comprise a set ofproperties, or data members, which may be set or modified through theuse of member functions. For example, mail folder 200A may contain datamembers indicating message count, user identification, rules for sortingmessages, a linked list containing each email message contained withinmail folder 200A, and a folder backup time.

Folder backup time 300A may represent the last time that mail folder200A underwent a full or partial backup operation. In variousembodiments, a folder backup time 300 may comprise a date and a time ofday, or may be another representation of a time at which a backup wasperformed relative to other operations.

It is noted that in one specific implementation, the mail folderproperty PR_LAST_FULL_BACKUP of Microsoft Exchange is employed toimplement folder backup time 300. In other embodiments, a customproperty of an Exchange mail folder may be employed to implement folderbackup time 300. In other embodiments, several mail folders 200 may beassociated with the same backup time 300. Other embodiments may also bepossible that maintain a backup time for each individual email message210 or any group of email messages 210.

Each email message 210 may also be a defined data object with associatedmember functions and member data. For example, email message 210A maycontain data members representing the text of the email message, thesender, the recipient(s), a pointer to one or more attachment files, thedate and time the email message was sent and the date and time the emailmessage was received.

Accordingly, each email message 210A–D may be associated with a messagetime 310A–D which may be used to index the message. As will be describedbelow in further detail, each message time 310 may be compared to folderbackup time 300 to determine if the message time 310 is before or afterfolder backup time 300. The message time may include a date and time ofday or may be in any other form that may be compared to folder backuptime 300A. In various embodiments, message time 310A –300D may representthe time each message was sent by the sender, the time each message wasreceived by mail server 160, the time the message was last modified, orany other time which may be used to index the message.

As will be described in further detail below, when performing a full orpartial backup of mail folder 200, backup application 170 may set folderbackup time 300 to indicate that all messages with a message time 310earlier than the backup time have been backed up to backup medium 220.Accordingly, backup application 170 may advantageously execute asubsequent partial backup operation without having to internallymaintain the time mail folder 200 was last backed up.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, message times 310A and 310B ofemail messages 210A and 210B, respectively, are dated after folderbackup time 300A of mail folder 200A. In contrast, message times 310Cand 310D of email messages 210C and 210D, respectively, are dated beforefolder backup time 300A. This thus indicates that email messages 210Cand 210D, along any associated attachments 212, have already been backedup in a previous full or partial backup operation.

Turning now to FIG. 4, a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a fullbackup method is shown. In 400, backup application 170 selects a firstmail folder 200 in mail server 160. In various embodiments backupapplication 170 may select a mail folder 200 alphabetically by ownername, chronologically by folder backup date 300, through a randomselection routine, or by any other method which allows all folders toeventually be selected and backed up.

In 402, backup application 170 sets an internal variable referred toherein as working backup time to the current time, e.g., the time thebackup operation begins. In one embodiment the working backup time maybe a temporary variable stored within backup application 170, while inanother embodiment the working backup time may be a data member of mailfolder 200.

In 404, backup application 170 transfers all email messages 210 in theselected folder 200 to backup medium 220 via I/O subsystem 110. It isnoted that in alternative embodiments, backup application 170 may beoperable to prevent any additions or modifications to the selected mailfolder 200 while the backup operation occurs.

In 406, backup application sets the folder backup time 300 to theworking backup time from step 402. As described above, in oneembodiment, folder backup time 300 may be modified directly via a memberfunction associated with the selected mail folder 200 or mail server170. Alternatively, folder backup time 300 may be embodied as anexternal file or data structure modified via operating system 150 or avariety of mail server 160 interfaces, depending on the implementation.

In 408 backup application 170 determines if additional message folders200 remain to be backed up. If no additional message folders remain, themethod may end. Alternatively, if additional message folders do remain,backup application 170 may advance to step 410, wherein another messagefolder is selected. Backup application 170 may then repeat steps 404–410for the remaining folders.

Turning next to FIG. 5, a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of apartial backup method is shown. Specifically, FIG. 5 illustrates oneembodiment referred to herein as an incremental backup, wherein allmessages 210 since the last backup are copied to a backup medium 220 andthe folder backup time 300 is modified to indicate that another backuphas occurred. In an alternative embodiment described below inconjunction with FIG. 6, a differential backup operation may beperformed in which folder backup time 300 is not updated.

In 500, backup application 170 selects a first mail folder 200 in mailserver 160. In various embodiments backup application 170 may select afolder alphabetically by owner name, chronologically by folder backupdate 300, through a random selection routine, or by any other methodwhich allows all folders to eventually be selected and backed up.

In 502, backup application 170 saves the current time, e.g., the timethe incremental backup operation begins, as a data variable, referred toherein as the working backup time. In one embodiment the working backuptime may be a temporary variable stored within backup application 170,while in another embodiment the working backup time may be a data memberof mail folder 200.

In 504, backup application 170 copies all email messages 210 in theselected folder 200 which have a message time 310 dated after folderbackup time 300 to backup medium 220. In one embodiment backupapplication 170 may perform step 504 by sorting through each emailmessage 210 in folder 200 and comparing folder backup time 300 tomessage time 310. Alternatively, mail folder 160 may offer a memberfunction to filter only those messages 210 which have a message time 310after folder backup time 300. Backup application 170 may then write theselected email messages 210 to backup medium 220. It is noted that insome alternative embodiments, backup application 170 may be operable toprevent any additions or modifications to the selected mail folder 200while the backup operation occurs.

In 506, backup application 170 sets folder backup time 300 to workingbackup time of step 502. As described above, in one embodiment, folderbackup time 300 may be modified directly via a member functionassociated with the selected mail folder 200 or mail server 170.Alternatively, folder backup time 300 may be embodied as an externalfile or data structure modified via operating system 150 or a variety ofmail server 160 interfaces, depending on the implementation.

In 508 backup application 170 determines if additional messages folders200 remain to be backed up. If no additional message folders 200 remain,the method may end. Alternatively, if additional message folders 200 doremain, backup application 170 may advance to step 510, wherein anothermessage folder is selected according to the folder selection mechanismused in step 500. Backup application 170 may then repeat steps 504–510.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a differential backup, wherein allmessages since the last backup are copied to a backup medium 220 and thefolder backup time 300 is unmodified. In 600, backup application 170selects a first mail folder 200 in mail server 160. In 602, backupapplication 170 saves the current time, e.g., the time the differentialbackup operation begins, as a data variable referred to herein as theworking backup time. In one embodiment the working backup time may be atemporary variable stored within backup application 170, while inanother embodiment the working backup time may be a data member of mailfolder 200.

In 604, backup application 170 transfers all email messages 210 in theselected folder 200 which have a message time 310 dated after folderbackup time to backup medium 220. In one embodiment backup application170 may perform step 604 by sorting through each email message 210 infolder 200 and comparing folder backup time 300 to message time 310.Alternatively, mail folder 160 may offer a member function to filteronly those messages 210 which have a message time 310 after folderbackup time 300. Backup application may then write the selected emailmessages 210 to backup medium 220. It is noted that in some alternativeembodiments, backup application 170 may be operable to prevent anyadditions or modifications to the selected mail folder 200 while thebackup operation occurs.

In 606 backup application 170 determines if additional message folders200 remain to be backed up. If no additional message folders 200 remain,the method may end. Alternatively, if additional message folders 200 doremain, backup application 170 may advance to step 608, wherein anothermessage folder 200 is selected according to the folder selectionmechanism used in step 600. Backup application 170 may then repeat steps604–608.

Other embodiments of the full and partial backup methods described inFIGS. 4–6 are possible. For example, backup application may select andbackup email messages 210 on an individual basis, or may sort throughemail messages 210 grouped by owner, message time 310, or any othergrouping method. In addition, as described above, backup application 170may utilize various data members and other properties to determine if amessage has previously been backed up.

Turning next to FIG. 7, a block diagram illustrating aspects of afurther embodiment of mail server 160 and backup application 170 isshown. In the embodiment of FIG. 7, backup application is configured tobackup a single instance of an attachment associated with multiple emailmessages. By minimizing the number of duplicate attachments 212 saved tobackup medium 220, backup application 170 may advantageously reduce theamount of data transferred to and stored on backup medium 220, therebyallowing for more efficient use of backup resources such as bandwidth.

One or more of messages 210 and attachments 212 may be duplicate copiesof the same message 210 and/or attachments 212. For example, in oneembodiment an email message 210 may have been sent to three differentusers of mail server 160. Accordingly, email messages 210B, 210F, and210J may be copies of the same email message, and attachments 212A,212C, and 212D may be copies of the same attachment, each stored in aseparate folder 200A–200C owned by a different user of mail server 160.Alternatively, message 210B and attachment 212A may be a single messageand attachment sent to a single user, while messages 210F and 210J andattachments 212C and 212D may be identical copies of the message andattachment made by the single user and kept in separate folders fororganizational purposes.

As will be described in further detail below, backup application 170 maybe operable to copy each message 210 to backup medium 220 and detect oneor more attachments 212 associated with each message 210. Backupapplication 170 may then be operable to store metadata associated witheach attachment 212 in an attachment index 710, and to use the metadatato store only one copy of each unique attachment 212 in backup medium220.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of mail folders200A –C and attachment index 710. For the sake of simplicity, only thoseemail messages 210 with attachments 212 are illustrated. As shown inFIG. 8, each email message 210 which contains an attachment 212 may beassociated with one or more pieces of metadata, such as message time 310and attachment record number 812A–812E. Each email message 210 andattachment 212 may be embodied as a data object with one or more datamembers, each of which may include one or more pieces of metadata. Forexample, in one embodiment mail server 160 may be a Microsoft Exchangeserver, and message time 310 and record number 812 may correspond to thePR_MODIFIED_DATE and PR_RECORD_KEY properties of attachment 212.

In the depicted embodiment, each email message 210 which contains anattachment 212 may also contain a data member indicating a correspondingrecord number 812, thereby associating each email message 210 with oneor more attachments 212. It is noted that in various embodiments, eachemail message 210 and attachment 212 may contain additional oralternative metadata which may provide a unique identifier for eachattachment, including, but not limited to, a message ID, a folder ID, orthe owner of the attachment 212.

As described above, attachment index 710 may be operable to storemetadata associated with each attachment 212. Specifically, as will bedescribed in further detail below, backup application 170 may beoperable to record metadata associated with each attachment 212 inattachment index 710 while storing one or more email messages 210 inbackup medium 220. Because duplicate copies of an attachment 212 willhave similar metadata, attachment index 710 may be operable to limitentries to one per unique attachment 212. As shown in FIG. 8, attachmentmetadata may include the message time 310 of the email messages 210associated with each attachment 212, the record numbers 812 which linkemail messages 210 to attachments 212, and the mail folders 200 eachattachment 212 is associated with.

In one embodiment attachment index 710 may be a data structure operableto store and sort each entry by one or more metadata fields.Alternatively, attachment index 710 may be a text file, linked list, orother data structure operable to store metadata, as described above. Itis further noted that in one embodiment, attachment index 710 maymaintain a separate entry for each individual attachment 212, ratherthan grouping each duplicate attachment under the same entry.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for savinga single instance of an attachment from a set of duplicate attachmentson a mail server 160. In 900, backup application 170 selects a firstmail message 210 from mail server 160. In various embodiments backupapplication 170 may select an email message 210 alphabetically by username, chronologically by folder backup date, through a random selectionroutine, or by any other method which allows all messages to eventuallybe selected.

In 902, backup application 170 determines if the selected message 210contains an attachment file 212. As described above, each email message210 may be a data object with one or more data members, including arecord number 812. Alternatively, each email message 210 may contain adata member indicating if or how many attachments 212 are attached tothe message 210. Accordingly, backup application 170 may be operable toexamine the relevant data members of the selected message 210 anddetermine if the selected message 210 contains an attachment file 212.

If, in 902, it is determined that the selected message 210 contains noattachment 212, backup application 170 may advance to 904, wherein theselected message is copied to backup medium 220 as described above.Backup application 170 may then advance to step 910.

Alternatively, if it is determined in step 902 that the selected message210 does contain an attachment 212, backup application 170 may advanceto step 906, wherein backup application 170 may store the metadataassociated with the selected message 210 and attachment 212 inattachment index 710. For example, in one embodiment backup application170 may read metadata such as message time 312, record number 812, and amail folder ID, and store the metadata as a single entry in attachmentindex 710.

In 908, backup application 170 copies the selected message 210 and theassociated metadata to backup medium 220 without the associatedattachment 212. As will be described in further detail below, the storedmetadata may later be used to restore a single instance of theassociated attachment 212 to mail server 160. It is noted that in oneembodiment, a selected message 210 may comprise a data structureseparate from associated attachment 212. The selected message 210 mayfurther contain all necessary metadata, such as message time 310, recordnumber 812, and the associated mail folder ID. In such an embodiment,backup application 170 may be able to execute step 908 simply by copyingthe selected message 210 to backup medium 220, without any furtheroperations.

Alternatively, in various embodiments attachment 212 and message 210 maybe part of the same data structure, and/or message 210 may not store therequired metadata, as described above. Backup application 170 may thusutilize one or more member functions associated with mail server 160 toseparate selected message 210 from attachment 212. Furthermore, backupapplication 170 may store the associated metadata with a copy ofselected message 212 on backup medium 220 as a separate data structure.

In 910 backup application 170 determines if additional messages 210remain to be backed up from mail server 160. If additional messages 210do remain, backup application 170 may advance to step 912, wherein thenext email message 210 on mail server 160 is selected and steps 902–910are repeated. Alternatively, if no messages 160 remain, backupapplication 170 may advance to step 914.

In step 914, backup application 170 may access each individual entry inattachment index 710, each of which may correspond to a single uniqueattachment 212 on mail server 160. Backup application 170 may thentransfer a single copy of each unique attachment 212 to backup medium220, along with the metadata associated with the attachment 212. Forexample, in one embodiment backup application 170 may store each backupcopy of an attachment 212 under a file name derived from the metadataassociated with the attachment 212. Alternatively, backup application170 may store the metadata associated with each backup attachment copy212 in a data structure associated with the backup copy of theattachment 212 on backup medium 220.

It is noted that by storing both the backup message copies 210 and thebackup attachment copies 212 with unique and matching metadata, backupapplication 170 may cause the messages 210 and attachments 212 to laterbe rejoined and restored on mail server 160, as will be described infurther detail below. In addition, as described above, by storing only asingle instance of each unique attachment 212 on backup medium 220, thetotal amount of data stored on backup medium 220 may be reduced, thusallowing for more efficient backup functionality.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method for restoring the messages 210 andattachments 212 stored on backup medium 220 to mail server 160. In 1000,backup application 170 selects a first mail message 210 from backupmedium 220. In various embodiments backup application 170 may select amessage alphabetically by user name, chronologically by folder backupdate, through a random selection routine, or by any other method whichallows all messages to eventually be selected.

In 1002, backup application 170 determines if the selected message 210was previously associated with an attachment 212. As described above,each email message 210 may be a data object with one or more datamembers, including a record number 812. Alternatively, each emailmessage 210 may contain a data member indicating if or how manyattachments 212 were attached to the message 212. Accordingly, backupapplication 170 may be operable to examine the relevant data members ofthe selected message 210 and determine if the selected message 212previously contained an attachment 212.

If, in 1002, it is determined that the selected message 212 contains noattachment 212, backup application 170 may advance to 1006, wherein theselected message 210 is restored to the correct location in mail server160. In one embodiment backup application 170 may utilize a programmaticinterface with mail server 160 to restore the message 212, while inanother embodiment, backup application 170 may be operable to directlycopy the message 212 directly to the appropriate file location inoperating system 150 from backup medium 220.

Alternatively, if it is determined in step 1002 that the selectedmessage 210 did previously contain an attachment file, backupapplication may advance to step 1004, wherein backup application 170 maystore the metadata associated with the selected message 210 inattachment index 710 as described above. It is noted that in oneembodiment backup application 170 may create a single entry inattachment index 710 for each unique instance of an attachment 212, asindicated by similar metadata retrieved from various messages 210.Alternatively, backup application 170 may create an entry in attachmentindex 710 for each message in backup medium 220 which previouslycontained an attachment 212. Backup application 170 may then advance tostep 1006, as described above.

In 1008 backup application 170 determines if additional messages 210remain to be restored from backup medium 220. If additional messages 210do remain, backup application 170 may advance to step 1010, wherein thenext message 210 on backup medium 220 is selected, and steps 1002–1008repeat. Alternatively, if no messages remain, backup application 170 mayadvance to step 1012.

In step 1012, backup application 170 may access each individual entry inattachment store 710, each of which may correspond to a single uniqueattachment 212 in backup medium 220. Backup application 170 may thenrestore a single copy of each unique attachment 212 to the correctmessage 210 in mail server 810. For example, in one embodiment backupapplication 170 may access the metadata associated with each attachment212 as a file name, as described above. Alternatively, backupapplication 170 may access the metadata associated with each attachment212 as a separate data structure on backup medium 220.

Backup application 170 may then search or index through attachment index710 to determine which messages 210 in which folders 200 previouslycontained a copy of the selected attachment 212. For example, in theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 8, message time 312, record number 812and the IDs of one or more mail folders 200 may be used to uniquelyidentify each message 210 which was stripped of the selected attachment212 in step 908 of FIG. 9. Backup application may then restore a copy ofthe attachment 212 to each message 210 through the various mechanismsdescribed in step 1006. Once each attachment 212 has been restored toeach associated message 210, the method may end.

It is noted that in some embodiments an email server may be configuredto perform the incremental and/or differential partial backupfunctionality discussed above in FIGS. 2–6, as well as the singleinstance backup functionality for attachments as discussed withreference to FIGS. 7–10. Other embodiments may be configured to performonly portions of this functionality.

It is further noted that any of the embodiments described above mayfurther include receiving, sending or storing instructions and/or datathat implement the operations described above in conjunction with FIGS.1–10 upon a computer readable medium. Generally speaking, a computerreadable medium may include storage media or memory media such asmagnetic or optical media, e.g. disk or CD-ROM, volatile or non-volatilemedia such as RAM (e.g. SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, RDRAM, SRAM, etc.), ROM, etc.as well as transmission media or signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals conveyed via a communication mediumsuch as network and/or a wireless link.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

1. A method comprising: storing one or more messages on a mail server,wherein each message is associated with an index time; performing a fullbackup, wherein said performing the full backup comprises: storing aversion of each message of the one or more messages on a backup medium;and storing a backup time corresponding to the full backup as a value ofa particular named parameter associated with the mail server; storingone or more additional messages on the mail server, wherein eachadditional message is associated with an index time; and performing apartial backup, wherein said performing the partial backup includes:storing respective versions of selected messages on the backup mediumdependent upon a difference between the index time associated with eachmessage and the backup time; and after storing the respective versions,modifying the value of the particular named parameter to a time at whichthe partial backup was initiated; and wherein said storing a version ofeach message of the one or more messages on the backup medium includes:determining, for each message of the one or more messages, whether themessage includes an attachment; if the message does not include anattachment, storing the message on the backup medium; and if the messageincludes an attachment, storing metadata associated with the attachmentin an entry in an attachment index, wherein each entry in the attachmentindex corresponds to a respective attachment for which no other entriesare included in the attachment index; and storing a modified version ofthe message on the backup medium, wherein the modified version excludesthe attachment.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected messagescomprise a particular additional message of the one or more additionalmessages, wherein the particular additional message is associated withan index time that is dated after the backup time.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein each message on the mail server is contained in a mailfolder object.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein storing the backup timecomprises modifying a data member of the mail folder object, wherein thedata member is a defined parameter of the mail folder object.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the data member is defined by a manufacturerof the mail server.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the data member isa PR_LAST_FULL_BACKUP property.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein saidperforming a full backup further comprises: for each entry in theattachment index, transferring a single copy of a correspondingattachment to the backup medium.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein saidperforming the partial backup further comprises: selecting a particularadditional message of the one or more additional messages to be storedon the backup medium, wherein said selecting comprises invoking afiltering member function supported by a mail folder object of the mailserver.
 9. A system comprising: a mail server operable to store one ormore messages in a mail folder object; a backup medium; a backupapplication configured to: perform a full backup on the mail folderobject, wherein to perform the full backup, the backup application isfurther configured to: store, as a value of a particular named propertyassociated with the mail folder object, a time the full backup begins asa backup time of the mail folder object, and transfer one or moremessages in the mail folder object dated before the backup time to thebackup medium; and perform a partial backup of the mail folder object,wherein to perform the full backup, the backup application is furtherconfigured to: store, in a data variable, a time the partial backupbegins as a partial backup time; transfer one or more messages in themail folder object dated before the partial backup time and dated afterthe backup time to the backup medium; and after transferring the one ormore messages dated before the partial backup time, set the value of theparticular named property associated with the mail folder object to thepartial backup time stored in the data variable; and wherein saidtransfer of one or more messages in the mail folder object dated beforethe backup time to the backup medium includes: determining, for eachmessage of the one or more messages, whether the message includes anattachment; if the message does not include an attachment, storing themessage on the backup medium; and if the message includes an attachment,storing metadata associated with the attachment in an entry in anattachment index, wherein each entry in the attachment index correspondsto a respective attachment for which no other entries are included inthe attachment index; and storing a modified version of the message onthe backup medium, wherein the modified version excludes the attachment.10. A tangible, computer readable medium including program instructions,wherein the instructions are computer-executable to: store one or moremessages on a mail server, wherein each message is associated with anindex time; perform a full backup, wherein to perform the full backup,the instructions are further executable to: determine, for each messageof the one or more messages, whether the message includes an attachment;if the message does not include an attachment, store the message on abackup medium; and if the message includes an attachment, store metadataassociated with the attachment in an attachment index, and store amodified version of the message on the backup medium, wherein themodified version excludes the attachment; and store a backup timecorresponding to the full backup; store one or more additional messageson the mail server, wherein each additional message is associated withan index time; perform a partial backup by storing respective versionsof selected messages on the backup medium dependent upon a differencebetween the index time associated with each message and the backup time.11. The computer readable medium of claim 10 wherein each of theselected messages is associated with a respective index time that isdated after the backup time.
 12. The computer readable medium of claim10, wherein each message on the mail server is contained in a mailfolder object.
 13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein tostore the backup time, the instructions are further computer-executableto modify a data member of the mail folder object, wherein the datamember is a defined parameter of the mail folder object.